Origin 50 head - think I've finally figured that thing out

[Dexter Inferno]

Been quite pleased with it so far to be honest, but finally got it to really sing at gigging volume.

As with many Marshalls you need to get the master volume fairly cranked, otherwise there is really no gain on it - until now I've had to rely on pedals to get the drive going. It's all in getting the power tube saturation. And to get that working at rehearsal/gigging volume a reactive load attenuator is a must imo. Tried a Palmer PDI-06 with it tonight and there it was. The Marshall sound. Throw a boost or mild overdrive in front of that again, and it's a glorious sound.
You can get the master cooking on the lowest power scaling option, but that's too quiet for gigging, and both the middle and high settings are ear-splittingly loud once you get the master volume past 9 o'clock, and at that point you can only get a clean sound without pedals (with low output pickups). So the attenuator really did the trick with that.

Another thing that has bugged me somewhat is it's suffered a bit from a bit of a flabby low end (very loose!) and being a bit harsh in the top end. I thought that was the speakers in my cabinet. Nope. Turns out the EQ on that amp is quite weird. A trick I picked up from watching a couple of vids on YouTube is turning both the treble and bass controls completely off (yep!) and then using the Tilt and Presence controls to balance out the low and high end. And don't forget to crank the mids. Works great, and it now sounds absolutely amazing even with the stock speakers in that cabinet, as well as the tubes in the amp.

Can't wait to get some recording done with how it sounds now.

Almost like I just got a new amp.

 

[baimun]

. A trick I picked up from watching a couple of vids on YouTube is turning both the treble and bass controls completely off (yep!) and then using the Tilt and Presence controls to balance out the low and high end. And don't forget to crank the mids. Works great, and it now sounds absolutely amazing even with the stock speakers in that cabinet….

So weird but satisfying when you figure out how something works when it’s not necessarily how your eyes would think to set the knobs.

 

[Dexter Inferno]

So weird but satisfying when you figure out how something works when it’s not necessarily how your eyes would think to set the knobs.

Indeed. Without seeing those vids I never would have thought to do that, as the general practice is start out with everything in the middle.
I suppose this is why so many known youtube reviewers dislike that amp, It's a Marshall, but with a few quirks - and some of them aren't immediately obvious.
And on the gain side of things, it's different in the way that almost none of the gain of the amp is in the preamp section (especially with a guitar that has low output pickups), which is exactly the opposite of almost every modern amp out there. That took a little while getting used to.

 

[Bob411]

"turning both the treble and bass controls completely off... don't forget to crank the mids"

Mind blown

I should probably call off work today. Don't think I can concentrate on anything now.

 

[MonkeyZero]

I've actually seen the "turn treble and bass all the way down" trick on a few newer amps lately on the youtubes. It seems weird to me that they set the EQ like that internally. Is there any specific reason it would be like that?

 

[Dexter Inferno]

I've actually seen the "turn treble and bass all the way down" trick on a few newer amps lately on the youtubes. It seems weird to me that they set the EQ like that internally. Is there any specific reason it would be like that?

Honestly have no idea why it's like that on that amp. Very weird. And considering the cabinet I have is designed to work with that particular amp series makes it even weirder.
It does have fairly bright speakers though (Seventy 80's). The bass thing is really weird. Past 2 it's pretty much unusable, really flabby low end, almost fuzz like. Very nearly bought an eq pedal to counter that thing a while back, until I discovered this trick of turning the bass all the way down - something I'd never even consider doing on most amps. It's not as drastic with a low master volume though, but when you crank the master it's really noticeable.

Fortunately the Tilt function is really useful in balancing the low/high end.

Took some research getting there, but at least it sounds awesome now.

 

[baimun]

I've actually seen the "turn treble and bass all the way down" trick on a few newer amps lately on the youtubes. It seems weird to me that they set the EQ like that internally. Is there any specific reason it would be like that?

I would theorize that it's because so many amps are used by bedroom players who scoop the shit out of the mids.

Those who are used to vintage or stage gear with more mids present can still get those tones out of it, by EQing counter-intuitively to how we normally would.

 

[MonkeyZero]

Honestly have no idea why it's like that on that amp. Very weird. And considering the cabinet I have is designed to work with that particular amp series makes it even weirder.
It does have fairly bright speakers though (Seventy 80's). The bass thing is really weird. Past 2 it's pretty much unusable, really flabby low end, almost fuzz like. Very nearly bought an eq pedal to counter that thing a while back, until I discovered this trick of turning the bass all the way down - something I'd never even consider doing on most amps. It's not as drastic with a low master volume though, but when you crank the master it's really noticeable.

Fortunately the Tilt function is really useful in balancing the low/high end.

Took some research getting there, but at least it sounds awesome now.

My new amp came with a 70/80. I hated it until I plugged my EQ pedal into it. Got it pretty much where I want it now but still considering experimenting with speakers. Watched quite a few videos and might try a Jensen (can't remember which one right now) or a Vintage 30 in it just to see.

 

[Dexter Inferno]

My new amp came with a 70/80. I hated it until I plugged my EQ pedal into it. Got it pretty much where I want it now but still considering experimenting with speakers. Watched quite a few videos and might try a Jensen (can't remember which one right now) or a Vintage 30 in it just to see.

Yeah trying out some other speakers is something I'd like to try out with this amp.

 

[Dexter Inferno]

Did a bit more testing tonight, and some recording.

Also have a 1x12" half-open cheapo cabinet that I got from Gear4Music with a Vintage 30 in it. Absolutely prefer the V30 to the 70-80 speaker.
Interestingly the 70-80 sounds better recorded than in the room, and the combination of the two different speakers sounds rather good in a mix.

Took an old song I wrote and recorded drums, bass, 2 rhythm guitar tracks using the "Malcolm" guitar (Gretsch Electromatic with a Filtertron) and a fill/lead track using the Sterling Cutlass guitar (SD 59 pickup in the bridge on that one). Amp settings identical on all 3 guitar tracks, just a little phaser goodness on the lead track in the break and a tube screamer on the solo.
Ampeg plugin on the bass guitar and a limiter on the master. Other than that no processing on the drums or guitar tracks.
Amp wise, 50% attenuation using the Palmer, Master and Gain on the amp at about roughly 7-8. Miced with a Sennheiser 421 just slightly off center.

Clips for those that might be interested (don't mind the sloppy playing, this was all about the sounds).

Mix:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2whx...-mix.mp3?rlkey=nbf1qkz1a6b9j1vm5e15jld3y&dl=0

Main riff with 70-80 speaker:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3rhg...0_80.mp3?rlkey=du6anj0ubnnzl35mpnuny1ij8&dl=0

Main riff with Vintage 30:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/umgh...-V30.mp3?rlkey=v2sfox8vk8jqk2bkawznz2ryy&dl=0

I'm really tempted trying out Vintage 30's in the 2x12 cab. Or a combination of Vintage 30 and Creamback speakers - that makes a whole lot of sense, and should in theory work really well.

 

[MonkeyZero]

Did a bit more testing tonight, and some recording.

Also have a 1x12" half-open cheapo cabinet that I got from Gear4Music with a Vintage 30 in it. Absolutely prefer the V30 to the 70-80 speaker.
Interestingly the 70-80 sounds better recorded than in the room, and the combination of the two different speakers sounds rather good in a mix.

Took an old song I wrote and recorded drums, bass, 2 rhythm guitar tracks using the "Malcolm" guitar (Gretsch Electromatic with a Filtertron) and a fill/lead track using the Sterling Cutlass guitar (SD 59 pickup in the bridge on that one). Amp settings identical on all 3 guitar tracks, just a little phaser goodness on the lead track in the break and a tube screamer on the solo.
Ampeg plugin on the bass guitar and a limiter on the master. Other than that no processing on the drums or guitar tracks.
Amp wise, 50% attenuation using the Palmer, Master and Gain on the amp at about roughly 7-8. Miced with a Sennheiser 421 just slightly off center.

Clips for those that might be interested (don't mind the sloppy playing, this was all about the sounds).

Mix:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2whx...-mix.mp3?rlkey=nbf1qkz1a6b9j1vm5e15jld3y&dl=0

Main riff with 70-80 speaker:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3rhg...0_80.mp3?rlkey=du6anj0ubnnzl35mpnuny1ij8&dl=0

Main riff with Vintage 30:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/umgh...-V30.mp3?rlkey=v2sfox8vk8jqk2bkawznz2ryy&dl=0

I'm really tempted trying out Vintage 30's in the 2x12 cab. Or a combination of Vintage 30 and Creamback speakers - that makes a whole lot of sense, and should in theory work really well.

Interesting. I've read the 70/80 is better for higher gain stuff than the V30. I like the V30 overall better but the 70/80 sounds good in that clip. Hmmmm.

 

[Dexter Inferno]

Interesting. I've read the 70/80 is better for higher gain stuff than the V30. I like the V30 overall better but the 70/80 sounds good in that clip. Hmmmm.

Could be that mic choice and placement negated the harshness in the 70/80 somewhat. The 421 doesn't have the same upper midrange peak/honk that a mic like the SM57 does.
In the room the V30 sounded a LOT better imo. But yeah, I sort of expected a bigger difference in the recording.